


Forelsket

by Boongz96z



Category: UNIQ (Band), UP10TION, X1 (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, idol seungyoun, painter wooseok
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-22
Updated: 2019-10-24
Packaged: 2020-12-28 08:15:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21133535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Boongz96z/pseuds/Boongz96z
Summary: Seungyoun gets reluctantly sent back to his hometown after an unfortunate scandal.There, he meets Wooseok and things unravel.





	1. Chapter 1

[Breaking] Cho Seung Youn and Kim Jae-In break up? Kim Jae-In ambiguous message on Instagram: “Now we walk on separate roads…”

[Breaking] Cho Seung Youn and Kim Jae-In’s agency confirm couple break up on amicable terms

[Breaking] Insiders’ details about Cho’s and Kim’s break up, did Cho really dump the nation’s sweetheart, Kim?

[Breaking] General public turn against Cho after dumping rumors, is Cho’s idol career over?

“The management wants me to what? “Seungyoun asked in disbelief.

“The management said it was best to send you back to your hometown and wait for this whole saga to blow over” SeungWoo repeated. “The number of reports and comments cursing you are overflowing; you are the top search on every search engine!”

“Isn’t that great new-” Seungyoun stopped in his tracks and shut his mouth obediently after catching SeungWoo’s glare. He always thought his manager hyung-nim was the nicest person ever but now a recipient of an impressive glare, he wasn’t sure why he ever thought so.

“Anyways” Seungwoo sighed “it’s for your safety too, have you seen those fan boys of Kim Jae-In loitering around your apartment lobby? They looked like they were ready to kill you any second for hurting the nation’s sweetheart! It’s my job to keep you alive as well so would you please just heed the management’s advice and stay low at your hometown for the next four weeks?”

“Fine”

This is how Seungyoun finds himself standing at the bus station at his hometown, with a carry-on beside him. He blends himself in the bustling crowd, hoping that no one would recognize him, he would preferably not want to get mobbed by fans on his first day back home after four years. As he makes his way out of the bus station, he notes that nothing has changed much in his hometown since he last saw it four years ago. People were still dressed shabbily and the entire town seemed like it was under poor maintainence, a stark difference from what he was used to seeing in Seoul. 

“Oh well, this is my life for the next four weeks” Seungyoun sighs to himself. Out of the corner of his eye, a sign catches his attention and he recognizes it as the chicken feet store that he used to frequent in high school. The last time he ate it was before he debuted which was four years ago and man, did he miss the taste of it, nothing in Seoul was ever comparable.

He thought about his diet and decided fuck it, he was on a break for a whole one month anyway. Licking his lips, he made his way to the store and placed an order while urgently tapping his foot. Man, he couldn’t wait to taste the familiar taste again.

After what felt like forever, he heard his order being called out and he immediately rushed over to the counter to pick it up like a child picking a gift on Christmas. He was about to leave the store when someone grabbed his arm and he groaned internally--- he can’t believe he still got recognized with his mask and cap on.

“Excuse me, I- “

“Look, I’m currently on a break right now and would like it if no one bothers me. So could you leave alone please?” Seungyoun said, as he turned around to face the person who grabbed his arm. He comes face to face with one of the prettiest boy he has ever seen. In normal circumstances, he would have flirted a little and asked for a phone number but in this current situation, he just wanted to head back to his mother’s house, have his chicken feet and bemoan his fate for the next four weeks.

“No, I wanted- “The pretty boy started and Seungyoun rolled his eyes. Why are some fans so persistent?

“Look, I’m flattered that you still recognized me in this set-up but I’m really tired and I do not feel like entertaining any fans today. Would a signature suffice for you and make you leave me alone?” Seungyoun interrupted, shrugging off the boy’s grip on his arm, hoping the boy would take the hint and leave him alone.

“I’m sorry, what? Why the heck would I want your signature?” The pretty boy replied while rolling his eyes.

“Then what in the world do you want? A picture instead?”

“My take-out” the pretty boy stared pointedly at Seungyoun and pointed to the take-out in his hand. “You took my take-out, that’s my order and I want it back”

Oh. Seungyoun could feel his cheeks heating up from embarrassment and he silently passed the take-out to its rightful owner. He feels the pretty boy snatching the plastic out of his hands and mumbling something (probably a curse) as he brushed past Seungyoun to leave the store. Seungyoun looked back at the boy’s disappearing figure and cursed.

Well, that was a great start to his four weeks back home.

Seungyoun feels the beads of sweat down his back as he stands outside his mother’s house. It’s been four years ever since he was back and everything feels oddly foreign to him despite there being no change in environment. He hasn’t had a proper conversation with his mother after debuting and shooting to fame in the four years and he wonders how she would receive him. He had merely sent a quick text to her that he was going to be back home the day before after agreeing with the management’s demands to return to his hometown.

Taking a deep breath, Seungyoun knocks on the door. He hears quick footsteps approaching and the door opened to reveal his mother who looked delighted to see him. “My son! You’re finally back home!” She exclaimed as she enveloped her arms around Seungyoun and he returns the hug awkwardly with a grimaced smile. Well at least she looked happy to have him back instead of kicking him out.

Breaking the hug, his mother immediately grabs his carry-on and excitedly usher him into the house. Seungyoun walks in gingerly, taking a good look at his old home and realizes nothing has changed. Everything looked the same as before and it was as if it was yesterday when he departed the house for his debut. The worn down couch that he used to sit on to compose his songs was still in it’s original place, the glass table stained with coffee stains that he used to write his lyrics out was there as well, even his old guitar that he cherished and played so often during high school was in it’s original place. He didn’t want to admit but he did miss the familiarity and comfort that he had in this place he used to call home.

“Conceited take-out asshole?” A familiar voice interrupted his thoughts. He turned to look at the source and sitting there comfortably on the couch was pretty boy from the chicken feet store. Wait, what is the pretty boy doing in his mom’s house and, did the pretty boy just call him a conceited take-out asshole? 

“Wait, Seungyoun, you have met Wooseok?” Seungyoun’s mother asked. Oh, so the pretty boy’s name was Wooseok.

“Seungyoun? Isn’t that your son?” Wooseok frowned. Wooseok vaguely remembers her mentioning about her idol son, Seungyoun, on multiple occurrence and was often sad that her son rarely contacted her. Ah, so on top of being a conceited asshole, this guy was a unfilial asshole as well.

“Yes, that’s my son right here. Seungyoun ah, this is Wooseok, our next door neighbor that helps me out around at the restaurant sometimes, he’ll be teaching you how to manage around the store.” 

“Wait what? Teaching me on how to manage around the store?” Seungyoun turned to look at his mother in surprise, this wasn’t what he signed up for. His four-week plan back to hometown consisted of eating and lazing around while waiting for his management in Seoul to call him back, it definitely didn’t include helping out in the store.

“Yea! Wooseok here is the best candidate to help you learn the ropes of managing the store! Isn’t that what you came back for? To help me out around the store after my sprain?” His mom stared expectedly up at him. To be honest, Seungyoun didn’t even know his mom was hurt, but as his eyes flicker down, he notices his mom’s leg in a leg cast and immediately feels a pang of guilt. Oh well, helping out won’t hurt will it? He had no plans in the four weeks anyway.

“That’s exactly the reason why I came back” Seungyoun plastered on a grimaced smile and took a deep breath. Well, his plan of being a depressed couch potato just went out of the window the moment he said that sentence. 

“Great, you will start tomorrow with me then. Six in the morning sharp, I hope that you won’t be late” Wooseok says with a slight smirk playing at his lips, staring pointedly at Seungyoun.

Well, Seungyoun gulped, looks like these four weeks won’t pass as easily as he thought.

It was 5.30am when the alarm starting screeching and Seungyoun groaned. On a normal day, it would have been his cue to hammer the snooze button, go back to sleep and wait for the alarm to start blaring again in 10 minutes, but this wasn’t a normal day. Wooseok had made a special point for Seungyoun to not be late and Seungyoun was sure Wooseok would berate him for his punctuality with a smug expression if he was. Seungyoun would rather walk on broken legos than for that to happen, thank you very much.

Seungyoun begrudgingly dragged himself up from the bed and prepared for the day, cursing while doing so. 

After 10 minutes, he was finally out of the house. Looking around, he could see that the sun was barely out and there was barely anybody on the streets. He trudged along the footpath to his mom’s restaurant and he hoped that he remembered the way there. He often played at the restaurant in his younger days, gradually stopping his visits to the restaurant as he became a trainee at the young age of sixteen. 

Trainee days were hard, he remembered wistfully. It was a flurry of going to school and going to training, dancing and singing. He never had time for anything else and he remembered always being envious of other people his age for their carefree lifestyle before and even after debuting. It wasn’t like he hated being a celebrity or anything, he loves his fans to bits, but there were still certain times where he missed his privacy, missed not having everything he does being speculated under the eyes of thousands spectators.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he catches sight of his mother’s restaurant and it was just as he expected, nothing much has changed, albeit everything did seem a little older and more run-down as compared to when he last saw it at sixteen. He pushed open the door and poked his head in, scanning around the place. It was dark except for the light emitting from the kitchen. He sees a head popping out from the opening between the kitchen and the dining area. Wooseok.

“Oh hey, you’re here and early too. That’s surprising, I thought you wouldn’t be here” Wooseok says with a surprised look.

“I’m a man of my words” Seungyoun replied begrudgingly. This Wooseok guy was such an ass.

“Well, man-of-your-words, why are you still standing there, the restaurant isn’t going to open itself you know.” With that, Wooseok disappeared behind the kitchen walls and Seungyoun followed behind. He sees that the amount of ingredients laid out in the kitchen and is momentarily speechless.

“These are all the ingredients that needs to be cut, seasoned and prepared before opening time at 10 am. We wouldn’t have time for it later when the restaurant opens, so we would have to do it now” Wooseok says as he gestured to the numerous ingredients laying around the kitchen.

“Are you serious? How are we supposed to finish preparing all of these by 10?” Seungyoun complains, frustratingly ruffling his hair.

“Well, maybe if you stopped complaining and started, we would be able to finish by 10” Wooseok says and rolls his eyes, turning his back to Seungyoun after to resume cutting the ingredients.

Meanie, Seungyoun thinks as he makes his way around the kitchen to grab a knife and chopping board. He begins chopping absentmindedly as he turns to look at Wooseok. Wooseok was holding a knife in his hands, skillfully chopping up cucumbers at a speed that was mind-blowing to him, yet, the chopped cucumbers turned out to be finely sliced. 

“If you continue looking at me, you’re going to slice a finger off and I’m sure none of the customers would appreciate an extra finger in their dishes” Wooseok says without looking back at Seungyoun. “Also, your carrots are chopped way too thick, they would never fit inside a kimbap.”

Seungyoun turns back rapidly to stare at his cutting board, embarrassed to have been caught looking. He looks at his uglily chopped carrots and sighs, it hasn’t even been 10 minutes into work and he’s already starting to hate it already. 

“That’s the ugliest looking kimbap I have ever seen in my entire life” Wooseok pans deadly. Seungyoun looks down at his kimbap and thinks that it really isn’t that bad until he sees Wooseok’s beautifully made kimbap sample. Wow, it really is bad.

Wooseok sighs and walks over, pushing Seungyoun slightly out of the way before unwrapping his kimbap and wrapping it again. It was as if Wooseok’s hands were magic as he unveiled a beautifully wrapped kimbap after. Seungyoun looked on with a mix of amazement and frustration, that was exactly the way he wrapped it but why did it turn out looking so different? God is really unfair.

“Got it? Now you try” Wooseok says as he takes a step back. 

Seungyoun grabs the necessary ingredients, places it on the rice and begins rolling the seaweed. He thinks he’s finally got it when he brings up the roll of kimbap to present it to Wooseok but only to deflate when said kimbap falls apart, scattering all the ingredients onto floor.

He smiles meekly and looks up at Wooseok. Wooseok’s face looked like someone who was eager to strangle Seungyoun and bury him along with his terribly made kimbaps. “I think I would have died before you successfully acquire the skill to make a presentable kimbap” Wooseok sighs as he walks away.

Oddly, that sentence made Seungyoun feel really motivated and competitive, he was going to prove Wooseok wrong. He finds hours later that hard work and motivation does not always yield results as multiple orders of kimbap get sent back to the kitchen by the customers.

The day ends surprisingly quick and it was soon time for closing. The number of customers dwindled in the last hour and Seungyoun finally got a time to sit down to take a breather. Wooseok really wasn’t wrong in saying that there would be no time to prepare the ingredients when the restaurant opened. There was a never ending queue of customers waiting to get into the restaurant regardless of the time and Seungyoun had spent the entire day running around, taking and delivering orders after Wooseok pushed him out of the kitchen when the 11th plate of kimbap got sent back.

He sees Wooseok sending off the last customer with a sweet smile and a bow. “Thank you for coming! Hope you enjoyed the meal!” Wooseok says cheerfully, while waving the customers goodbye. He seemed to be familiar with the customers, Seungyoun notes. Wooseok turns back to look at Seungyoun, the sweet smile on his face immediately disappearing, replaced with a weary look.

He starts gathering the dishes on the table and Seungyoun immediately walks over to help out. Together, they bring the dishes to the kitchen and starts washing them. They work in quiet harmony when Wooseok breaks the silence.

“Why did you come back here?”

Seungyoun looks up to stare at Wooseok. Wooseok has stopped moving his hands and was now staring at Seungyoun, waiting for an answer.

“Didn’t my mom mention it yesterday? I came back to help after her sprain” Seungyoun lies, immediately averting his eyes. 

“Right” Wooseok says, dragging out his words, making his distrust for Seungyoun’s reply apparent.

“Fine, I came back because my management told me to. Didn’t you hear about the nationwide scandal? About me dumping the nation’s sweetheart, Kim Jae-In?” 

“Wait, that was you?” Wooseok asked, surprise evident in his voice. Wooseok hadn’t been following the saga but he knew that many were berating some guy for dumping the ‘nation’s sweetheart’ and honestly, he felt bad for the guy.

“Yea, I got so much flack from the public from it, so my management decided to send me back here to wait for the entire thing to blow over.”

“So, why did you dump her?” Wooseok asked.

Seungyoun looked down at the plate in his hands and sighed, he didn’t really feel like talking about it today. “I didn’t,” he replied and added no further comments. Wooseok felt his reluctance to share further and backed off, asking no further questions. 

Both of them resumed washing the dishes quietly when Seungyoun asked, “how did you know I was lying? About my reason for my return.” He looks up at Wooseok and sees a smirk on his lips.

“For someone that didn’t contact his mother for four years, coming back because of her sprain to help her out doesn’t really make sense, does it?” Wooseok says, “plus, that look of panic when your mom mentioned about you helping out really gave you away.”

“Well, I thought I hid it pretty well. I’m a pretty renowned actor back in Seoul you know” Seungyoun says proudly. “Haven’t you watched any of my shows?”

“No, I haven’t. Based on your acting yesterday, I’m pretty certain that I didn’t miss any good shows. Plus, I only ever watch shows that consist of handsome actors. Which you, “Wooseok says teasingly, “are clearly not.”

Seungyoun gaped at Wooseok, the audacity. Never ever has someone told him that he wasn’t handsome, and Wooseok was the first to do so. 

“Why does it seem like you dislike me?”

“Because you haven’t done anything to make me like you?” Wooseok says, as if it was the most obvious fact in the world. “Plus, those kimbap making skills of yours is able to make any redeeming points about you disappear.”

“Well, I tried my best,” Seungyoun huffs. “Just you watch, by the end of this month, I’m going to make you a fan of mine.” Seungyoun looked at Wooseok with determination, he’s gonna charm him off his feet, he was sure about that.

“Sure, sure” Wooseok says dismissively, smiling as Seungyoun’s ridiculous antics. He was going to have so much fun.


	2. Chapter 2

Seungyoun spends the next three days at the restaurant trying to perfect his kimbap skills and trying to appeal his charm to Wooseok in the most ridiculous ways known to mankind.  


On the second day of work, he attempts to dance to one of his sexy choreographies while delivering plates to Wooseok and ends up dropping all the plates on the floor. What he earns that day is a slap to his back and a glare from Wooseok.

On the third day, he attempts to act out as a male lead in a k-drama. He had planned to trip Wooseok deliberately and catch him k-drama-prince-style. He ends up missing and Wooseok ends up on the floor with carrots around him and a murderous glare in his eyes.

On the fourth day, he attempts to appeal his sexiness to Wooseok by licking his fingers after preparing spicy kimbap and starts gagging. He ends his day with regret and a whole carton of milk.

“Please stop trying,” Wooseok said.

Seungyoun looks up from wiping the counter, he had been in the midst of thinking up yet another act to appeal to Wooseok. He had been unsuccessful for the past 3 days and he was sure today would be the day, the day that Wooseok becomes a fan.

“If you keep trying, either one of us is going to end up in the hospital or the restaurant is going to go broke or catch a fire or something.” 

“But I haven’t successfully made you my fan yet” Seungyoun pouted, tugging at Wooseok’s sleeve with two fingers. 

“Don’t be stupid” Wooseok says as he swats Seungyoun’s hands away. He hears Seungyoun give a little sniff and turns around to face Seungyoun. What he sees is an expression that could rival puss-in-the-boots kitty staring up at him and he fights the urge down to throw a few dishes at Seungyoun.

“You should go home,” Wooseok says as he places the last remaining cups on the rack.

“You’re not going home?” 

“I’m staying to drink a little, you can head home first,” Wooseok says as he made a gesturing motion for Seungyoun to leave the place.

“Well, I’m staying too then,” Seungyoun smiles cheekily as he sits down on the counter. “I’m never going to leave your side until I make you a fan of mine.” Seungyoun isn’t certain but he sees something flash in Wooseok’s eyes for a second, but it was gone the next second.

“Fine,” Wooseok huffs exasperatedly and then bends down to grab two cans of beer from the refrigerator, handing Seungyoun one before getting up on the counter himself.

They drink in silence for the most part, with Seungyoun sneaking occasional glances at Wooseok.

Exasperated, Wooseok asks, “what?”

“Are you always this cold to people?” 

“Only to you” Wooseok says, the familiar smirk that Seungyoun is used to creeping up his face.

“What a meanie” Seungyoun says as he pouts for the second time that night. This time, Wooseok grabs the nearest rag and hurls it at Seungyoun, which hits him right in the face.

“Ouch!” Seungyoun exclaimed as he removes the rag from his face and for the first time since he met Wooseok, he sees Wooseok laughing, corners of his eyes crinkling and decides he really likes it.

“You should laugh often you know; you look really cute while laughing.”

“Shut up,” Wooseok says as he feels heat rising to his cheeks. He blames it on the alcohol instead.

“So, what do you do for a living? Other than helping my mom out,” Seungyoun asked.

“Painting,” Wooseok answers curtly.

Seungyoun’s eyes go wide as he gasped, “Wow! So you’re a painter? That’s something I never would have expected.”

Wooseok’s eyes narrowed, “What do you mean by that?”

Without replying, Seungyoun just flashes him a smile and takes a sip from his can of beer. Wooseok wonders what the hell is going through Seungyoun’s head.

“I miss this you know,” Seungyoun says, looking down at his can beer, his cheerful demeanor suddenly diminishing. “Being able to sit down quietly, talking and chilling while having a beer.”

Wooseok nods silently, signaling for Seungyoun to continue.

“The last time I was this relaxed was probably when I was about…sixteen? Before I became a trainee. It was like being in a constant competition after, I could never let my guard down. I spent every free hour training and trying to better myself,” Seungyoun smiles but it doesn’t reach his eyes. “I thought it would get better after debuting but I guess not. Now, I have people scrutinizing my every action and it gets so tiring. It’s been so long since I was this relaxed.”

Although he would never admit it out loud to Seungyoun, Wooseok feels bad for him and without even thinking, he blurts out an invitation to Seungyoun to go to the town fair together the next day.  


“Really?” Seungyoun perks up, his eyes twinkling and Wooseok wants to punch himself when he momentarily thinks that Seungyoun is cute.

“I guess so,” Wooseok says, trying his best to appear nonchalant. 

“Are you asking me out--“

“The offer is off” Wooseok cuts Seungyoun off before he can continue his teasing and proceeds to walk away with Seungyoun chasing after his heels, laughing and apologizing insincerely.

“What in the world are you wearing,” Wooseok deadpans as he frowns at Seungyoun’s get-up of a black baseball hat, sunglasses and mask. “You look like you’re about to rob a bank.”

“Well, I can’t have any of my fans recognizing me”

“No one would recognize you, the average age in this town is like 60 or something,” Wooseok says while rolling his eyes, before proceeding to remove Seungyoun’s camouflage.

“I would like to point out I’m pretty popular amongst the older generations too” Seungyoun says as he wiggles his eyebrows, shooting finger guns at Wooseok in the process. 

“Sure thing, Mr-conceited-do-you-want-a-picture-instead-asshole,” Wooseok teases before turning around and walking away, leaving Seungyoun spluttering behind him.

The town fair was bustling with people when they entered, a certain excitement hung in the air accompanied by incessant chatters of people. Seungyoun looked around in amazement and looked like he couldn’t wait to try all the activities and food available.

“Hey, let’s go to the shooting booth!’ Seungyoun yelled before grabbing Wooseok’s hand and dragging him to said booth.

“Let’s challenge,” Seungyoun says, grinning. “Loser treats supper!”

“Sure, I’ll have you know I’m pretty good at this,” Wooseok accepts, never one to back down from a challenge.

“Well, I’ll have you know I once acted as a private detective in a drama so you can expect some pretty fire skills from me,” Seungyoun says while pumping his fist onto his chest proudly. “So you better not get upset when I win!”

5 minutes later, Seungyoun finds that his experience acting as private detective doesn’t do shit and he’s losing so badly he wants to find a hole to bury into.  


“There there child,” Wooseok says smugly as he pats Seungyoun’s head, an action which oddly fires Seungyoun’s motivation to win against Wooseok or as phrased in his head, win this bitch.

Seungyoun ends up spending the majority of his tokens on the game, squealing like a little child when he finally manages to hit every target with the toy gun. The guy at the booth applauds Seungyoun for his effort before passing a jjallangie plushie to him. 

Seungyoun positively beams at the plushie and thank the worker before grinning at Wooseok like an idiot. 

“It’s for you,” Seungyoun says, shoving the plushie into Wooseok’s hand, before grabbing Wooseok’s other hand and leading him into the crowd. This time, Wooseok blames the heat on his cheeks on the hot environment around them.

They spend the next two hours casually walking around, stopping by several games and food-stores, spending whatever remaining tokens they have. Wooseok makes an effort to perform poorly on every game to lose to Seungyoun lest they go broke and Seungyoun positively gets happier and happier as the night goes by.

Later that night, after leaving the town fair, Seungyoun buys supper because he’s a loser (Wooseok doesn’t let him forget) and they retreat back to Wooseok’s house.

They settle into comfortable silence while eating, with the noise of the television running in the background.

“Thank you,” Seungyoun says suddenly, turning to look at Wooseok, who looks at him quizzically. “Thank you for letting me have this experience. It’s been long since I had this much fun.”

“It’s nothing much,” Wooseok says as he flashes a warm smile at Seungyoun, something he hasn’t done before.

They resume eating in comfortable silence before Seungyoun breaks the silence again.

“You know, about my break-up? How I mentioned it wasn’t me who dumped her?” 

Wooseok nodded, internally surprised that Seungyoun brought up the topic, seeing as it looked like he didn’t want to talk about it before.

“I didn’t do the dumping, she did.” 

“Then why didn’t you clarify it with the media?” Wooseok asked.

“Well, she begged me not to, saying it would affect her image since she was still a rising star. I agreed, and look where it got me to.” Seungyoun says with a bitter smile on his face. 

Wooseok stared at Seungyoun, unaccustomed to such an expression on his face. He felt bad for Seungyoun since the backlash from the media was horrible ---he knew because he had read some of the hostile comments directed towards Seungyoun--- yet at the same time he felt a new admiration for Seungyoun.

“Enough of me, now let’s talk about you,” Seungyoun says, expression changing to that of an excitement, a complete contrast from seconds ago. Wooseok would have wondered how the heck did Seungyoun’s mood change in a snap if he weren’t flustered from the sudden attention directed towards him.

“What about me? There’s nothing interesting about me,” Wooseok stuttered.

“Hmm... I wanna see your paintings!” Seungyoun says after a pause. “I’ve shared so much with you, it’s only right that you share something with me too, right?”

“Fine, follow me.” Wooseok relented as he leads Seungyoun to one of the rooms to where he keeps his paintings.

As Seungyoun enters the room, he feels the mood become more somber. He takes a look at each and every painting, reflecting a style that he never would have expected from Wooseok. The paintings were dark, and generally looked depressing, albeit possessing admirable techniques.

“Why are your paintings so…dark?” Seungyoun asked as he turns to Wooseok, who’s also staring at his own paintings with unreadable eyes.

“It’s just my style,” Wooseok says, voice guarded. Seungyoun feels, no, he knows that there’s definitely more to it than it simply being ‘his style’. At the same time, however, he relents and avoids asking for more information, just like how Wooseok did for his relationship.

“For someone this pretty, that’s an interesting choice of style.” Seungyoun teases, just to lighten up the mood because it’s what he does best.

“I’m sorry, what?” Wooseok chokes out, once again feeling heat rising to his cheeks.

“I’m joking, not the part about being pretty though,” Seungyoun smiles and ruffles Wooseok’s hair before walking out of the room, leaving Wooseok’s heart skipping a beat.

Wooseok can only look at Seungyoun’s back as he walks away, wondering what the fuck just happened.


	3. Chapter 3

“Hey, that’s my song.”

Wooseok looks up from his cleaning, wide-eyed. He had put his playlist on for some songs to make up for the silence as they cleaned up the restaurant for the day and he had forgotten that he added Seungyoun’s songs to his playlist that day after Seungyoun left his house.

“That’s the one from my debut album, did you search me up?” Seungyoun says as he grins, eyes glinting.

Wooseok lets out a strangled noise before turning away, choosing to ignore Seungyoun before he gets teased further. Like hell he was going to admit he spent that entire night searching through Seungyoun online, scrolling through his pictures and listening to his songs like a teenage fan girl. He would rather die than admit to it.

“I wrote and composed that song from scratch ya know.”

“You write and compose songs?” Wooseok asked, surprised. “Are all your songs handwritten and composed by you?”

“I wish,” Seungyoun says, hoisting himself up on the counter before continuing, “It’s hard to get my management to approve my songs for some reason. My dream was to be able to compose and sing my own songs, but being an idol hardly gives me a chance to do that. Plus, my schedule’s always packed, I don’t have time to compose and write any songs these days.”

“Do it,” Wooseok says abruptly.

“Do what?” Seungyoun’s head snaps up, looking at Wooseok for an answer.

“Compose a song,” Wooseok says, eyes flashing with an odd determination. “You’re free right now, aren’t’ you? So do it, go write that song that you always wanted to.”

Seungyoun goes home that day and opens up his MacBook for a long time in a while. He opens up a new document and stares, willing for some inspiration to come to his mind.

He finds nothing, nothing at all. He didn’t know what to write about and the document was empty, in the same state as it was ever since he opened it four hours ago. He sighs, frustrated at the lack of progress and calls it a night. That night, Seungyoun tosses and turns in bed. Did he desert his dreams of lyric writing and composing so far back that he had lost any ability to do so? It never was a problem back then; someone could give him an hour and he could produce tons of lyrics, ideas flowing through his mind like a river. Negative thoughts accumulate in his mind and for the first time since he came back, he feels useless.

Wooseok notices that Seungyoun has been more quiet these few days, often looking like he was in deep thoughts. He doesn’t want to probe, yet he’s worried. So after they finish cleaning up for that day, Wooseok sits Seungyoun down.

“What’s wrong?” Wooseok asks, concern in his voice.

“I haven’t been able to write or compose anything and it just feels really,” Seungyoun pauses and takes a deep breath, “bad.”

Ever since that night, he had returned home everyday to attempt composing but he hasn’t made any progress, not even one bit. The document was still as empty as when he first opened it and he can’t help but think that he’s untalented. He thinks back to the malicious comments that he had received back in Seoul, tens of thousands of comments calling him untalented and ‘just a pretty face’, and he can’t help but agree with them at the moment.

Maybe because he’s at home, in his hometown, but he can’t help but think of how he was before. How passionate he was about song-writing and singing, he remembers a little boy so passionate that he sang everyday as he filled countless notebooks with lyrics. He finds the little boy unfamiliar now.

For the past few nights, he realizes as an idol, he hasn’t sung his heart out for a very long time, often, choosing to lip-sync instead to accommodate difficult dance moves. His schedule so jam-packed with variety show appearances and drama filmings that composing and singing was never his priority anymore. And he thinks, how did it turn out this way, him spending a large chunk of his youth chasing a dream that he ends up pushing away in the end?

He voices out all of his worries without thinking, completely baring himself emotionally to Wooseok and it’s only when he feels Wooseok gently grabbing his hands, that he realizes that he’s tearing up.

“I’m sorry,” Seungyoun mutters, feeling embarrassed.

“Don’t be,” Wooseok says softly as he squeezes Seungyoun’s hand.

“Let me take you to a place?”

“Where?”

“Just follow me,” Wooseok smiles as he grabs both of their bags and proceed to drag Seungyoun out of the restaurant.

“Wow,” Seungyoun can’t help but gasp in amazement.

“Killer view right?” Wooseok smiles as he settles down on the rocky surface.

They are now situated at the top of a hill, overlooking the entire town and the stars above them looks closer than ever as they twinkled beautifully.

“This place is crazy crowded in the afternoons but if you come here at night, it’s always empty and it’s the time where the best view comes on.” Wooseok says, pulling Seungyoun down to sit beside him. “It’s where I come to when I feel sad, or uninspired, or just generally feel like a loser. This place comforts me, so I hope it comforts you at least a little as well.”

“That’s really…nice of you, thank you.” Seungyoun says as he feels a warm feeling blossoming in his heart.

“You’re the first person I ever took here, just so you know,” Wooseok says, smiling warmly as he elbows Seungyoun. “So you better feel privileged!” He jokes to lighten up the mood, and he’s glad to see a little smile on Seungyoun’s face.

They settle down into comfortable silence as they stare out into the horizons of the night. Seungyoun feels the night breeze on his face and Wooseok by his side and for the first time in these few days, he relaxes and breathes.

“Can I ask you a question? About your paintings?” Seungyoun says, breaking the silence. He feels Wooseok clam up beside him, he doesn’t know why he’s asking, but maybe it’s because he wants to be a source of comfort for Wooseok, just like how Wooseok was for him.

“What is it?” Wooseok replies while looking down at his lap and playing with his fingers.

“Why is it so…sad?”

Seungyoun feels Wooseok’s hesitance to answer and at that moment, he desperately wants Wooseok to answer, he desperately wants to be trusted by Wooseok because he hasn’t seen Wooseok looking so dejected before until now.

“I was abandoned,” Wooseok starts, “my mom left the house when I was 13, leaving me to my alcoholic father. She said something along the lines of me being unbearable and that she deserved better.”

Seungyoun reaches out to grab Wooseok’s hands when he hears the quiver in Wooseok’s voice, silently thumbing circles on Wooseok’s palm, a silent encouragement for Wooseok to continue.

“My father drank himself to death when I was 17 and that’s when I met him, a boy who I thought was my savior, Lee Jinhyuk. It was a whirlwind romance, I fell so fast and hard that I failed to see the warning signs. He was 5 years older, an adult that I thought I could rely on. I sought solace in him and gave him everything he asked for but guess what?”

“What?”

“That son of a bitch cheated on me. Told me that I was hard to love and left just like that. I suffered from a long bout of depression afterwards and painting was what helped me express my feelings. If you noticed, my paintings are all paintings of people leaving, with their backs turned towards me.”

Seungyoun thinks back to the time when he saw Wooseok’s paintings. He didn’t recognize or notice it then but as Wooseok points it out, he realizes that it was true, he vaguely remembers seeing what Wooseok has described.

“Well, it’s their loss for not seeing your worth then, they’re missing out big time” Seungyoun blurts out harshly while looking at Wooseok. He feels anger bubbling up in his chest as he wonders how anyone could have missed the beauty in Wooseok. He decides those people must have been stupid as hell or just straight up blind.

Upon hearing his words, Wooseok breaks into a smile.

“Thanks for listening anyways,” Wooseok says as he gazes off into the night sky. “You’re the first person who I ever told all of these to.”

Seungyoun smiles and gazes at Wooseok tenderly. Somehow, he’s glad that the both of them are slowly opening up their hearts to each other, and for some reason, Seungyoun decides he really likes it.

Seungyoun goes home that day and ends up writing a song about a certain someone, of inner beauty, comfort and ugly kimbaps.

They soon establish a routine of making their way to the hill after work to chill around and talk about whatever that was on their mind and Seungyoun discovers that time with Wooseok passes all too fast.

“Hey,” Seungyoun says, poking at Wooseok’s shoulders.

“What?”

“Guess what I made for you?”

“I hope it isn’t kimbap.” Wooseok teases to rile a reaction up from Seungyoun, it works and Wooseok has to grab Seungyoun’s arm to prevent him from getting up and stomping off like a child.

“Fine, what is it?”

“A song,” Seungyoun grins and fishes out his phone from his pocket.

“A song? You made a song for me?” Wooseok chokes out. He feels his heart rate increasing and face burning, and he wonders how his ribcage is keeping his heart in at this stage.

“Yea, I wrote a song about you,” Seungyoun says, completely oblivious to Wooseok’s inner turmoil, as he scrolls through his playlist to find the song. He plugs his earbuds into Wooseok’s ear after he finds the song and taps on the 'play' button.

A beautiful melody starts flowing in Wooseok’s ear before Seungyoun’s voice comes on, blending seamlessly with the melody.

_A story I’ve heard often somewhere;_

_Ugly duckling and swan, a butterfly before it flies._

_People don’t know, they don’t see your wings._

_A new world you’ve met could be cruel,_

_But strong boy, you know you were born to fly._

As the song ends, Wooseok removes the earbuds and holds it in his lap, without speaking.

Seungyoun stares intently at Wooseok, waiting for a reaction, only to start panicking when he sees tears glistening in Wooseok’s eyes. He starts wondering what he’s done wrong, did Wooseok not like the song? Or the lyrics? Or the melody?

A million thoughts run through his mind but as Wooseok turns around to smile at him before hugging him, he feels his brain short-circuits and he tenses up.

“Thank you, it’s the nicest thing someone has done for me in a while.” He hears Wooseok mumble into his shoulder before breaking the hug and Seungyoun immediately feels empty.

“I’ll teach you painting,” Wooseok suggests suddenly.

“Huh?” Seungyoun says, still dazed from the hug.

“As a repayment, I’ll teach you how to paint,” Wooseok says as he smiles brightly at Seungyoun.

Seungyoun nods dumbly, unable to make out any words as he just stares at Wooseok’s dazzling smile, and he thinks that it might just have been the most beautiful thing he has ever seen in his life.

Well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to take this time to apologize to Jinhyuk!!!!   
Hehe, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!

**Author's Note:**

> It's my first fic ever dedicated to the 96z of X1!!! Please do pardon any mistakes ><  
Follow my twitter @boong1103 to fangirl about X1 with me hehe


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